Farmington Area Single Track (FAST) enters its sixth year with more programming than ever before. The organization offers both spring and fall classes for kids from ages two through 18, spanning skill levels from strider bikes to advanced. FAST’s first-ever bike swap will take place March 23rd at the Farmington Rec Center. Twenty percent of proceeds will go towards supporting FAST programming. By Connor Shreve. This story is sponsored by Durango Motor Company and Ace Hardware in Farmington.
FAST - https://www.fast-nm.org/
Bike Swap Registration Link - https://myskiswap.com/skiswap_views?ssid=c7fa3380-b00a-013c-2f42-16aeb87f1c33
Durango Motor Company - https://www.durangomotorcompany.com/
Ace Hardware in Farmington - https://www.acehardware.com/store-details/17965
Spring cycling season is right around the corner and Farmington Area Single Track wants to make sure you're geared up. It's hosting the area's first bike swap on March 23rd. You're watching the Local News Network brought to you by Durango Motor Company and Ace Hardware of Farmington. I'm Connor Shrieve. You can register to sell your gear at the swap as well as peruse the products on hand to fill out your equipment collection. 20% of proceeds will go to support the mountain bike nonprofit. F.A.S.T. president, Chris Conley, isn't sure what to expect from the first year event, but says it could appeal to a wider audience than just Farmington riders.
You know, Durango Devo has always done a bike swap and they used to do theirs in the spring. They have now switched theirs to the fall. So who knows, there might be some overflow from that of people that were really like in the spring time and they'll come down here and utilize ours. It's hard to say.
The upcoming bike swap represents continued growth for the organization since its inception in 2019.
We started out five guys that were riding bikes together and saw the need for kind of a unified voice for the biking community 'cause there wasn't one here. So that's how F.A.S.T. was born. We started doing group rides on Thursday nights, and invited kids, and that grew, and grew, and grew, and so then we started a youth program.
F.A.S.T. added adult classes to its programming last fall, and later this spring will host a series of classes focusing on things like bike maintenance and more.
Tips and tricks on how to get you back in from the trail if you have a failure out there 'cause no one wants to push their bike back or carry it back. So those are some of the classes we're offering in the spring as well. And then we also have partnered with San Juan College. We're here at the bike park, and we're helping them develop this and all of their open space as far as single-track trails in the bike park.
Registration is open for spring Mountain bike classes for kids from 2 through 18. The group hopes to progress kids from strider bikes to pump tracks and all the way up to advanced mountain biking. Classes start April 15th.
Our spring program is an eight-week program, so most all of the kids ride one night a week with a coach for an hour and a half. There is one group that rides two nights a week 'cause they're boys and they need to get rid of a little extra energy. But, yeah, most of the groups ride one night a week for eight weeks.
Between its spring and summer sessions, F.A.S.T. supplements with summer race series. If you have anything to sell at the swap, Conley asks you register your gear ahead of time through the F.A.S.T. website. Learn more about this story and others at farmingtonlocal.news. Thanks for watching this edition of the Local News Network. I'm Connor Shrieve.
